In this chapter Pharaoh is threatened with the plague of frogs, in case he refused to let Israel go, which accordingly was brought upon him, Ex. 8:1–6 and though the magicians did something similar to it, yet these were so troublesome to Pharaoh, that he promised to let the people go, and sacrifice…

And the Lord spake unto Moses Either whilst the plague upon the waters continued, or immediately upon the removal of it: go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, thus saith the Lord, let my people go, that they may serve me; mentioning neither time nor place, where, when, and how long they should serve…

And if thou refuse to let them go Will not obey the orders: I will smite all thy borders with frogs; he gives him warning of the blow before he strikes, which shows his clemency and goodness, his patience and longsuffering; and this he did, not only that he might have time and space for repentance,…

And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly The river Nile; and though water, and watery places, naturally produce these creatures, yet not in such vast quantities as to cover a whole country, and so large an one as Egypt, and this done at once, immediately; for they were all produced…

And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy servants. ] No doubt by the interposition of divine power and providence, and it may be by the ministry of angels; so that let them use what care, caution, and diligence they would, there was no keeping them out; but they…

And the Lord spake unto Moses By a secret impulse upon his mind, for he was now in the presence of Pharaoh, who had refused to let Israel go: say unto Aaron, stretch forth thy hand with thy rod; for Aaron carried the rod, and he was the minister of Moses, who was appointed a god to him; and be was…

And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt That is, towards the waters of the Nile, and towards all places where any water was; for it was not possible he could stretch out his hand over all the waters that were in every place: and the frogs came and covered the land of Egypt: they…

And the magicians did so with their enchantments, &c] By their secret wiles and juggling tricks: and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt, that is, some few, as a proof of their art and skill, and to show that Moses and Aaron did but what they could do; but what they did either were only in…

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron He sent for them: and said, entreat the Lord, that he may take away the frogs from me and from my people; he begins now to know the Lord, whom he knew not before, by the judgments he executed on him, to acknowledge his hand in those judgments, and tacitly to…

And Moses said unto Pharaoh, glory over me If thou canst; take every advantage against me of lessening my glory, and increasing thine own; or vaunt or boast thyself against me, as the phrase is rendered, or take this honour and glory to thyself over me, by commanding me, and fixing a time to pray…

And he said, tomorrow Which according to Bishop Usher was the twenty sixth day of Adar, or February. It may seem strange that Pharaoh, and his people, being so greatly distressed with this plague, should not desire that the Lord would be entreated to do it immediately, and not put it off to another…

And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people Signifying there should be a full and clear riddance of them: they shall remain in the river only; the river Nile.

And Moses and Aaron went from Pharaoh To the place where they used to pray to the Lord, and meet with him, and receive messages from him; this they did the same day the plague was inflicted, the day before the morrow came when the frogs were to be removed: and Moses cried unto the Lord: prayed unto…

And the Lord did according to the word of Moses He heard his prayers, and fulfilled what he had promised Pharaoh: and the frogs died out of the houses, and out of the villages, and out of the fields; the word for “villages” signifies “courts” [[1]], and may be so rendered here; and the sense is,…

And they gathered them together upon heaps Swept them up, and laid them in heaps out of the way: and the land stank; with the stench of the dead frogs, which was another proof and evidence of the reality of the miracle; and that dead frogs will cause such an ill smell appears from the above account…

But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite From his affliction, as the Targum of Jonathan adds; the plague was removed, and he found himself and his people at ease: or there was a “breathing” [[2]]; before he and his people were so oppressed, that they could scarce breathe, but now being delivered…

And the Lord said unto Moses On the twenty seventh day of the month, according to Bishop Usher, the same day the flogs were removed; no warning is given him of the next plague, at least there is no account of any: say unto Aaron, stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land; in some one part…

And they did so As follows: for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod; as directed and ordered: and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man and in beast; which shows it was a miraculous operation, since lice do not usually spring from dust, but thrive in the sweat of bodies, and…

And the magicians did so with their enchantments, to bring forth lice They made use of their magical art, and juggling tricks they were masters of, to produce the like sort of creatures, or at least to make such appear, or seem to appear, to the eyes of men: but they could not; God would not suffer…

Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, this is the finger of God This is to be ascribed to a power superior to human, to a divine power; so long as they could do something similar, or impose upon the senses of men, and make them believe they did the like, they would not acknowledge divine…

And the Lord said unto Moses, rise up early in the morning, &c.] Of the day following, the twenty eight of Adar, or February, according to Bishop Usher; this was the fittest time to meet with Pharaoh, and the most likely to make impressions on him: and stand before Pharaoh: meet him as he comes…

Else, if thou wilt not let my people go But remainest obstinate and inflexible: behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee; the word used is generally thought to signify a “mixture”, and is interpreted by many a mixture of various creatures; the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it a mixture of…

And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell Distinguish it from other parts of the land of Egypt: that no swarms of flies shall be there; which was a very wonderful thing, and so the word may be rendered.

And I will put a division between my people and thy people, &c.] Or, a “redemption” [[14]]; for by distinguishing them in his providence from the Egyptians, he might be said to redeem or deliver them; thus God makes a difference between his chosen people and the rest of the world, through his Son’s…

And the Lord did so And this he did immediately of himself without any means; not by the rod of Aaron, to let the Egyptians see that there was nothing in that rod, that it had no magic virtue in it, and what was done by it was from the Lord himself, who could as well inflict plagues without it as…

And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron He and his people not being able to endure this plague of flies any longer; and we read in profane history of such creatures being so troublesome, that people have been obliged to quit their habitations, and seek for new ones; so Pausanias [[18]] relates…

And Moses said, it is not meet so to do It being the command and will of God that they should go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice there; and besides it was dangerous, the Egyptians might be provoked by their sacrifices to fall upon them, and kill them; for we shall sacrifice…

We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness As was first insisted on, and from which demand they should not depart: and sacrifice unto the Lord our God, as he shall command us; both what sacrifices shall be offered, and the manner in which they shall be done, both which seemed for the…

And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness He does not say three days, though as he allowed them to go into the wilderness and sacrifice, they could not go and come again in less time; nor would Moses have accepted of the grant, as it seems by…

And Moses said, behold, I go out from thee Directly, immediately, to the place where he was wont to meet the Lord, and receive orders and instructions from him: and I will entreat the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh; for as he sent them, he only could remove them, and he could…

And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the Lord. ] He did as he promised he would, and prayed to the Lord to remove the flies from Pharaoh and his people.

And the Lord did according to the word of Moses Did as he entreated him to do, as follows: and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; by what means is not said, whether by destroying them at once, as the frogs, or by driving them away with a wind, as…

And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also As he did before, when he found the plague was removed, and the flies were gone: neither would he let the people go; through pride and covetousness, being loath to have the number of those under his dominion so much diminished, and to lose so large a…